La Femme Nikita Season 5 Episode 3 – In Through The Out Door

Title: In Through The Out Door

Air Date: January 21, 2001

Synopsis: Events at Section are getting chaotic. Nikita begins to experience some mysterious symptoms that threaten her life.

An ad hoc Oversight committee acting in George’s absence is at Section One. Operations reports to them and the head of the committee is not pleased with Section One’s performance. The committee head insists on debriefing a team that is just returning. Their prisoner escapes and takes out two of the committee members along with a couple operatives. Operations draws his gun and walks down the corridor after him.

Moments later the prisoner takes the committee head hostage. The near by operatives stand down. However, Operations leans around a wall on the upper level and shoots the last committee member. The operatives move in to secure the prisoner. Operations steps out into the open, "Prisoner escaped. He stepped into the line of fire. That’s the way I saw it. Anybody disagree." As he turns to walk down the hall Operations mutters, "He’s right, the place is falling apart."

Armory. Walter can’t decode the disc that Nikita brought back from the house. She thinks the disc is from Michael. Nikita complains of a headache before leaving.

Systems. O’Brien is preparing a simulation when Operations walks in. "The Collective’s been running circles around us ever since you’ve been slotted for Michael…If Oversight needs a sacrificial lamb, it’ll be you."

Back at the Armory, Jason Birkhoff walks in. Tells Walter that Center wants him to help Section One make the transition under the recent changes. Jasmine brings her panel to Walter to look at and Jason hits on her but gets shot down.

Systems, a briefing is in process. Nikita takes her seat with sunglasses still on. As Operations starts to speak she sees white flashes and her hearing gets distorted. Operations informs the team that a bio-strike is imminent and Hoffbauer is behind it. He wants him alive. Nikita picks up her gear from Walter without a word; obviously in pain.

Mission. The team enters an office building. Nikita and O’Brien make their way to a conference room with O’Brien leading the way. When Nikita tries to shoot a tranquilizer at Hoffbauer she gets disoriented. O’Brien ends up shooting Hoffbauer after getting shot in the shoulder himself. Nikita finally gets the tranq off and the prisoner is secured.

Section One. Operations is not happy that Hoffbauer got shot. O’Brien replies simply that he’s still alive, and covers for Nikita saying the tranq jammed.

O’Brien’s Office. Nikita is waiting when he enters. She thanks him and starts to leave. O’Brien asks, "What’s wrong?" She hesitates than tells him about the headaches and white flashes. Tells him she’s afraid to go to Medical because Operations is looking for any excuse to bring her down. After Nikita leaves, O’Brien goes to Operations and reports what Nikita told him. And admits he covered for Nikita to gain her trust. Operations tells him to watch her. Then pages Guliyak to keep an eye on O’Brien.

Quinn wonders why he doesn’t trust O’Brien. Operations replies, "I don’t trust any man where Nikita is concerned. She has a way of turning heads. Thank god there are no other female operatives with that effect." and half smiles as he briskly walks away.

Nikita asks Jason to take a look at the disc “off the book”. He agrees. "Your brother was a good man. I’m hoping you are too." Jason replies, "I only met my brother once. In the short time we had he spent half the time talking about you. I’ll do what I can."

A short time later. Nikita is looking worse. Walter stops to talk to her. Jason walks by with the decrypted disc. All it has is a coordinates to some place in the country.

Nikita drives up to a large house in the country. (Many fans should recognize it as the rest home that Michael took Adrian to in 403: View Of The Garden.) She questions the caretaker. He tells her about a man, a quiet but dangerous man, who left a woman, assumed to be his mother, but she’s dead now and he hid the body. Nikita calls Walter and has him download a photo of Michael to her panel. The man confirms that it was Michael that left the woman. He tells Nikita that the woman died after complaining of headaches and white flashes.

Armory. O’Brien asks Walter where Nikita is, tells him that he wants to help. Walter gives in and fills him in on the Gelman Process. Tells him about Adrian and then Nikita being subjected to it, that Adrian is dead now and Nikita is in the final stages. However, he has devised a vaccine but needs a tissue sample from Adrian to complete it.

O’Brien goes with Walter to meet Nikita. They arrive at a cemetery near the rest home. Nikita enters the mausoleum first and goes and points out Adrian’s coffin. Walter verifies that it is indeed Adrian and wonders at how Nikita knew which one it was. O’Brien and Walter slide the lid off the tomb. O’Brien spots something inside and quickly pulls it out, some kind of medallion on a necklace. Walter identifies it as a PF3 communicator, a device that hasn’t even been deployed yet. Nikita insists on keeping it even though Walter assures her that it can’t be online. O’Brien urges Nikita to return to Section as quickly as possible. Nikita says she’d rather die than not know who she is or why she’s here. Walter gets the tissue sample and helps Nikita back to the SUV.

As O’Brien follows he asks Walter, "What do you know about Spec Ops?" Walter replies,"Worked there 10 years, why?" "If you had us staked out. Where would you be." "Behind the hedges. Six o’clock." O’Brien whirls around and takes a couple shots. Then walks over to see the fallen operative. Walter walks back and IDs him as Guliyak.

Back at Section. Walter gives Nikita the vaccine saying she should be back on her feet in a couple days. O’Brien says, "A couple days?! She has a briefing in 3 hours." "Good luck." Then asks O’Brien what made him change his mind. "She did." Nikita caresses the pendant communicator calling for Michael, "Help me…"

Systems. Operations briefs the team on taking out a bio-chemical plant. Operations is just telling O’Brien that he has command of the team when Nikita arrives. She reports that Jason downloaded the details to her panel and she’s up to speed. After Nikita walks away, Operations asks O’Brien if he has anything to report. Smiling he replies, "Nope…Positive."

Operations asks Quinn if Guliyak has checked in. "No. It’s like he dropped off the face of the Earth."

Armory. Walter sees Nikita still has the PF3. "I told you they’re not operational yet." She replies, "It wasn’t in the coffin for nothing and puts it around her neck."

Bio-Chemical Plant. The team infiltrates the compound. Nikita makes it to her target but gets disoriented and can’t arm the bomb. She collapses to the floor in pain. O’Brien and the other operatives continue to fight hostiles. A distorted voice, "Nikita. Nikita, you have to be strong." comes from the PF3 communicator. Quinn questions who she’s talking to. The Voice tells Nikita to switch channels then walks her through arming the bomb. "Michael?" The Voice replies, "A friend." Nikita runs for the exit route. The Voice warns her of a couple hostiles on the way.

Van Access. The team returns. Operations is waiting to debrief them, "The mission had irregularities." Nikita blames it on equipment failure. "There’s been alot of that lately." O’Brien cuts in, "The target was destroyed and we suffered no casualties. That should be enough." "She destroyed Michael. She’ll destroy you too." Operations walks away.

Nikita looks at O’Brien, "I don’t really have the words." "Thanks’ll do." After a moment Nikita replies, "Thanks." Nikita touches the PF3 as O’Brien walks down the corridor.

Adrian was the ‘mother’ of Section One. Operations staged a coup to take over Section One. Adrian was introduced in 221: Adrian’s Garden and nearly took down Operations with Nikita’s help in 202: End Game. The after effects of which were felt in Season 3. Operations subjected Adrian to the Gelman Process and kept her in cryogenic sleep until Michael freed her to help get Nikita de-Gelmanized in 402: TANM, 403: VOTG, 404: ITLG, and 405: MITM.